Trust Issues
by silverbranches
Summary: Hook manages to catch up with the Emma, Snow, Mulan, and Aurora. That night, he and Emma have a conversation about why she left him at the top of the beanstalk, and her trust issues. Set after "Tallahassee".
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Once belongs to ABC, no matter how hard I wished it belonged to me.**

Emma thought that with a ten-hour head start, she would never have to see Captain Killian Jones again. Which was good, because leaving him locked up didn't do a lot for their friendship.

Of course, she'd underestimated him.

They had made camp, and Mulan was roasting a rabbit that she had been lucky enough to catch. All four women were enjoying the chance to rest after the extremely long day they all had.

Out of the shadows, a familiar voice unexpectedly spoke up.

"Hello darlings. Long time no see."

Mulan drew her sword and Snow grabbed her quiver as Killian stepped out of the shadows.

"How did you find us?" Emma asked.

"Well, you ladies stopped and rested a lot. I didn't, so I managed to catch up." He looked around at them. "Now we're all together again, we can resume our adventure the way we started it."

"What, with you tied up to a tree as we leave you for the ogres?" Emma retorted.

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of us working together to steal the wardrobe ashes from Cora."

Emma glanced at the others, who shrugged, as if to say. "What else can we do?"

They all ate their meal, and then Emma volunteered to take first watch while the others slept.

"I'll stay up with you," Killian remarked.

"I don't need your help," Emma said, moving to the perimeter of the camp. "I can keep watch on my own."

Killian, being his usual aggravating self, followed her. "I think we have a lot to talk about, considering that you locked me up and left me in the same room as an evil giant."

"He wasn't _evil_, and you weren't going to be stuck up there forever. We just needed a head start. Besides, you managed to catch up, so everything worked out well for you."

There was silence, and Emma thought that he might _finally_ leave her alone when he started talking again.

"I figured it out, by the way."

Emma considered not answering, but figured that he would probably keep on bothering her until she said something.

"What did you figure out?"

"Why you left me up there. Ten hours give a man a long time to think, so one can normally draw some pretty great conclusions."

"Really? And what conclusions did you draw, aside from the obvious one that I don't trust you?"

"It's not that you don't trust me, darling. You're just _scared_ to trust me." He stopped talking, and Emma found herself wanting him to explain this part of her that even she had been unable to find.

Killian continued, saying, "See, I'm guessing that your parents weren't the only ones to leave you. Somebody else did as well. Somebody you were close to – somebody you trusted. So you didn't want to trust me, because if you did, I would break that trust and leave, or do something bad. You would rather keep your distance. You locked me up because you wanted to leave me before I would – supposedly – leave you."

Killian finished, and there was a pregnant pause, as if he expected Emma to either confirm or deny what he had said.

As much as Emma hated to admit it, he was right. She always left first, because that way, she wouldn't be hurt when the other person left. Like they always did. Like Neal had.

"What?" she snapped, when the silence became too much for her. "Do you want me to give you a prize for being right? Do you want me to offer you congratulations on being the one to figure out the mysterious Emma Swan?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Killian shake his head.

"This wasn't about me trying to make you say I'm right," he said. "This was about me helping you." He nodded over to where Snow was sleeping. "If your parents didn't – and won't – abandon you, wouldn't it be nice to give other people the benefit of the doubt?" When Emma didn't say anything, he went on. "If you just open up and _trust_ people, Emma, it can open up a lot of new possibilities. And that's better than spending your life alone."

He turned and walked away after that, leaving Emma alone with many new things to think about.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, everybody, and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Not mine. It's ABC's.**

"Emma. Emma. Emma, sweetheart, wake up."

Emma groaned and swatted at Killian, squinting her eyes against the early morning sun. "I'm not your sweetheart," she complained. "And it's too early to be getting up."

"Aurora just woke up from a dream," he stated.

Emma shot up, looking to where Aurora stood with Mulan and Snow. "What did she say? Is Henry okay?"

Killian shrugged. "They wanted to wait until you woke up. You were taking so long, I decided to wake you up myself."

Emma clambered to her feet, tiredness forgotten as she waited for news of Henry and their journey home to Storybrooke.

"What did he say?" she asked Aurora the second she entered the group.

"I didn't understand it," she admitted. "He said that in Rumpelstiltskin's cell, there's some ink that had been used to capture him before." She turned to Snow. "Do you know anything about it?"

Snow nodded, her face thoughtful. "When Ella needed help breaking her deal, Charming and I used a quill to stun Rumpelstiltskin long enough to trap him. The ink we used had the magic, and he must have kept some inside his cell. If it worked for Rumpelstiltskin, it should work for Cora."

"But how do we trap her?" Emma asked. "I don't think we can just give her a piece of paper and the ink and say, 'Here you go. Can you sign this paper with this magic ink that will let us trap you long enough so we can defeat you and you can't cause chaos for the denizens of Storybrooke. Please and thank you!'"

"I don't think she actually needs to sign her name," Snow answered. "As long as she uses her magic on an object that has touched the ink, it should succeed in trapping her."

"We should leave now if we want to make it to the palace before sundown," Mulan interjected.

Snow went to gather her weapons, while Emma noticed that a member of their group was missing. "Where's Killian?" she asked.

Everybody shrugged, knowing that the missing pirate would show up when he wanted to.

It wasn't until they had finished packing up camp that Killian stepped out from the shelter of the surrounding trees.

"Where have you been?" Mulan asked.

"I needed to stretch my legs for a bit," Killian replied. "You were so wrapped up in your discussion, you guys didn't even notice. When are we leaving?"

"Now," Snow answered. "The sooner we get to Rumpelstiltskin's cell, the sooner we can get back to Storybrooke." She shouldered her quiver and began leading the way to the once-magnificent palace. As Emma made to follow her, Killian grabbed her arm. Although his usual rakish grin was fixed firmly on his face, his tone was unusually serious.

"Remember, Emma," he remarked. "Our deal still stands, no matter what. When you leave, I go with you."

Emma jerked her arm from his grasp, the physical contact making her uncomfortable. "I remember," she said. "Can we go now?"

They hurried to catch up with Snow, Mulan, and Aurora. The sun had just begun its descent when they finally reached the crumbled ruins of the palace.

"If we're lucky, the passageway hasn't collapsed," Snow said, shifting aside ruble to clear a path. "It should be right…here."

With the help of Mulan, she pushed aside the debris that had blocked a door. The inner passage was musty and dark, and there was complete silence. Emma had expected howling winds or squeaking rats, but it was unnaturally quiet.

"Come on," Snow ordered.

The passage was long and winding, and just when Emma thought it would never end, the passage opened up to reveal a large cell.

"Let's start digging," Mulan said.

They scrabbled at the loosely packed earth, using their hands to bring up clumps of dirt. By the time Aurora found a small box, buried a few feet underneath the surface, nearly half an hour had passed.

"Here," Killian took the rather heavy box from Aurora and lifted the lid. Inside was a medium-sized flask, filled with black ink.

"Wait!" Aurora cried. "I think I see something else down here!"

They were so occupied with the mysterious item – which turned out to be a rusted lock – that they didn't notice Killian had stepped outside the cell, or that another figure had joined him. They did notice when the wooden bars of the cell slammed down, trapping them inside.

They all jerked around, and were shocked to see Cora standing next to Killian.

"Killian!" Emma cried. "You traitor!"

Cora smirked. "Perhaps you should pick your allies better, Ms., Swan. Killian was very helpful in telling me your plans." She shook her head in a mournful manner. "You should have known that you could never outwit _me."_

Killian sauntered up to the bars, standing directly in front of Emma.

"Killian," Emma said – not begging, she would never beg – "What about our deal?"

He leaned in close to her and whispered, "Trust me." Pulling back, he said in a normal tone, "Sorry love, but our time for making deals is done."

He grabbed the compass from her pocket and handed it to Cora. She took it triumphantly, and then turned a thoughtful gaze on the women.

"I could just keep you here," she mused. "But I can't be sure that one of you won't come up with a plan to escape."

She tapped her finger on her chin. "I could always curse you," she said. "I'm sure you are all familiar with the Sleeping Curse. Unfortunately, this one is much less difficult to create, but it is much, much worse."

She turned to Killian and imperiously stuck out her hand. "Give me a knife," she ordered.

Killian fumbled for a bit, but then he finally produced it. Grabbing the weapon, Cora focused on it, and the knife began glowing with her magic.

"It's a handy little curse," she explained. "All the knife needs to do is injure you, and because it's blood magic it – "

She froze suddenly. Not in the way people do when they suddenly realize something, but in the magical, forceful way.

"Sorry darling," Killian said, showing the flask of ink he had used on the knife. "But I got a better offer. And you should have remembered pirates are expert at sleight of hand."

He plucked the dagger, the compass, and the ashes from her, and then leveled the dagger at her. "Lift up the gate, " he said. "Or you'll see for yourself how bad this curse really is."

Glaring, she complied, and Killian waited until all four women were out until he ordered Cora to step inside. With the help of Snow, they managed to bring the bars down. Then they left her in that cell, leaving her to spend eternity there.

Once they walked back in to the forest, gray darkness had claimed the sky. Mulan, Aurora, and Snow worked to quickly set up camp, while Emma and Killian scouted for water.

"So, was it really that hard to trust me?" Killian asked.

""It's not like I had much of a choice," Emma said. "I was trapped in a cell. I could only watch."

"But in the end, I saved you all. And our deal still stands."

"Fine," Emma said as they walked back to camp. "But I want the compass and the ashes."

He handed the items to her, ad Emma glanced at the compass, watching as the arrow settled on the direction of the portal.

It wasn't long now before they'd be home.

**Sorry it's not the best, and I know everything is probably completely wrong. I wanted to finish this before Queen of Hearts airs, and I haven't looked at any excerpts. But anyways, thanks for reading!**


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